Silencing the Accuser

Transcription

1 Silencing the Accuser Free webinar on September 11, 2018 By Dr. Sandie Freed A. God Has a Plan for Your Life Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NIV) - For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. 1) God s plans involve you prospering. 2) God has plans to shalom us - which means God has peace planned for us. 3) Shalom- safe, i.e. (figuratively) well, happy, friendly; also (abstractly) welfare, i.e. health, prosperity, peace, wholeness, completeness. 4) The Accuser robs us of peace and says You re flawed and ruined. B. The Accuser Comes in Three Different Ways 1) To falsely accuse YOU to OTHERS 2) To falsely accuse YOU to YOURSELF 3) To falsely accuse GOD to YOU. C. The Accuser in the Book of Job Job 1:6-12 (NIV) 6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the Lord, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." 8 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and Page 1 of 7

2 shuns evil." (God is bragging on Job!) 9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. 10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." 12 The Lord said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. God says these words concerning us: You are special. You are accepted in the Beloved. You are adequate. You are anointed. You are blessed. You are an overcomer. You are loveable. You are good. You are clean. You are pure. The Accuser looks for opportunities to put you, your belief system, your character, and your responses on trial. D. How the Accuser Falsely Accuses YOU to Others Bottom line, Satan is a liar. There is no truth in Him. He wants to slander our reputation and attempt to prove that we are NOT who God says we are! The Accuser works through the impure motives of others. Satan s lies are strongly connected to witchcraft The enemy s plan is to falsely accuse us so that we become bitter and that we begin to murmur and complain about our circumstances. The enemy does NOT want us to walk in forgiveness. Page 2 of 7

3 The enemy has plans to torture us by reinforcing bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness. (Matthew 18:23-35) E. The Accuser will accuse YOU to YOURSELF! This is what the voice of the Accuser sounds like when he accuses US to OURSELVES. You are unimportant. You don t measure up. You are worthless. You re a failure. You are a victim. You are unworthy. You are shameful. I m valuable only for what I do and not for who I am. You will NEVER get past your past. You don t fit. You are guilty. You are a bad person. You are a disappointment to God and to others. If I do something wrong, I will be rejected. You should hate yourself. You should be ashamed of yourself. You ll never find anyone to love you and commit to you. You are to blame. You are inadequate. You are cursed. Bad things always happen to me. I am damaged. If I give up my self-hate, condemnation and shame, I will only become proud and arrogant. (religious spirit, false humility) And more! F. Words from the Enemy Become Strongholds 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (NASB) - Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses [strongholds] Page 3 of 7

4 Facts to observe concerning this scripture on warfare: 1) Our battle is not planned according to the way this world fights; earthly stratagems are not our concern. 2) Our weapons are not physical, for our warfare is spiritual in nature. 3) We are to use the full armor of God Ephesians 6: the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God 4) Our power comes from God alone 5) God s plan is to demolish spiritual strongholds. So WHAT are these strongholds or fortifications we face? 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV) - We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Let s look at this in a different translation 2 Cor 10:4-6 (GOD'S WORD Translation) - The weapons we use in our fight are not made by humans. Rather, they are powerful weapons from God. With them we destroy people's defenses, that is, their arguments 5 and all their intellectual arrogance that oppose the knowledge of God. We take every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ. 6 We are ready to punish every act of disobedience when you have become completely obedient. Psalm 9:9-10 (AMP) - The Lord also will be a refuge and a high tower for the oppressed, a refuge and a stronghold in times of trouble (high cost, destitution, and desperation). 10 And they who know Your name [who have experience and acquaintance with Your mercy] will lean on and confidently put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those Page 4 of 7

5 who seek (inquire of and for) You [on the authority of God's Word and the right of their necessity]. [Psalm 42:1.] 2 Sam 22:3-4 (AMP) - 3 My God, my Rock, in Him will I take refuge; my Shield and the Horn of my salvation; my Stronghold and my Refuge, my Savior You save me from violence. [Genesis 15:1.] 4 I call on the Lord, Who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. G. Your battle at Jericho - There s a shout in you! God has a plan of victory for you - follow His directives! Dear one, God has a supernatural shout inside of you - your own declarations over your life will shout down your wall and defeat the Accuser! A very fitting definition for the word stronghold when thinking about how the enemy affects our thought life is this: Strongholds are wrong mind-sets and thought patterns that are based on lies. It is when we have allowed the enemy to dominate in our thought life over time and now those lies of the enemy dominate us. The enemy knows if he can trap us in strongholds, he can work all kinds of destruction in our lives. But God s given us the power to conquer those strongholds by renewing our mind, which is simply learning to think properly. H. The Proceeding Word that Defeats the Accuser Matthew 4:1-5 (NASB) - Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." 4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'" The Accuser targets our identity! Page 5 of 7

6 However, What God says about us will defeat the Accuser. We must choose words that empower us Proverbs 23:7 tells us this truth-as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. It doesn t matter how old you are or how long you have believed the Accuseryou can always begin to believe what God has said! I. Are You a Chronic Worrier? Does the Accuser Paint a Negative Future? Worry and reasoning are two of Satan s most successful tools. The Accuser wants us to be stuck in our past- But God is breaking those chains! J. Develop On Purpose Thinking Use deliberate words and phrases that count! Be purposeful when you speak or think. K. The Accuses Falsely Accuses GOD to us! God describes His nature and His faithfulness in His Name. 1) Elohim- The Sovereign Mighty Creator The God that created the entire universe by speaking it into existence. He spoke- prophesied Let there be light. 2) El Shaddai- the All Sufficient One The many breasted one- the feminine side of God. To overcome the Accuser- learn to dwell under the shadow of the Most High God. Remember, He is your High Tower. Page 6 of 7

7 3) Jehovah Rapha - The Lord My Health The Lord is Your Healer! The enemy will point to your weaknesses. Despite what the enemy tries to get us to believe - God will NEVER leave us or forsake us! Job s fiery trial was also an attack on his health! Job responded to the accusers by saying this: Job 23:10 (NIV) - But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. Page 7 of 7